


Midnight Visit

by AussieWriter1



Category: The Blacklist
Genre: F/M, Gen, can be taken as romantic or platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-03 10:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AussieWriter1/pseuds/AussieWriter1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the events of 1x10 'Anslo Garrick'. Someone breaks into Liz's house while Tom is away for work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Visit

**Author's Note:**

> New one-shot! I honestly have no idea where this came from, but I hope you like it! And until I get a DNA test, I will not believe that these two are related. Sorry not sorry. Anyway, on with the fic!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with 'The Blacklist' in any way, shape, or form. The characters present and mentioned in this fic are not mine, not matter how much I wish they were.

Liz had always been a light sleeper. Every since she could remember. However, thanks to the nightmares that had regularly plagued her consciousness since she joined the FBI, her senses seemed to be enhanced when she closed her eyes. Her defences dropped, and every tiny, quiet sound suddenly became a hoard of wild beasts crashing their way through her head.

So when she heard distant footsteps coming from the bottom floor of her home, Liz didn't hesitate to bolt out of bed. Grabbing the pistol she now kept under her pillow, Liz crept to the doorway and slowly peered out onto the landing. Holding her weapon aloft, she steadily moved towards the stairs. Pausing for a moment to control her breathing, Liz strained her ears, desperately searching for more unwanted sounds. 

The noise that soon found it's way to her ears was that of someone breathing quite heavily. Liz guessed from it's volume that the intruder was currently in her living room. Searching through her rampaging thoughts, Liz was certain that Tom wasn't due back from work until the day after tomorrow. If the teaching association had allowed him to come home early, he would've called her.

Taking a deep breath, Liz began to descend the stairs, making sure that her pistol was locked and loaded in front of her.

Despite the lights still being off, Liz could just make out the silhouette of a man sitting on her couch. The man was facing away from her, and didn't seem to notice her presence in the room, for which Liz was grateful. His breathing muffled out every small sound she made as she treaded quietly towards the light switch.

As she reached it, Liz took a few deep yet quiet breaths to steel herself. There was no backup on the way, no Reddington standing outside ready to kick the door in. She was alone, yet she had surprise on her side, and that was all she needed.

Flipping the switch, Liz jumped in front of the intruder, weapon raised and finger steady on the trigger.

However, when it finally registered in her mind who the intruder was, all of Liz's confidence fell away, leaving behind mixed feelings of confusion and terror. The pistol clattered to the floor, yet Liz didn't even notice. As she locked eyes with the man collapsed on the couch, she finally found her voice.

"Red?"

"Lizzie." The criminal responded weakly. "What a surprise to see you here."

"But you - you're-" Liz struggled to find the words to express the multitudes of confusion currently clouding her mind.

Finally tearing her eyes away from Red's, Liz gazed at the rest of the man she hadn't seen in six long months. She gasped when she noticed the darkness spreading from Red's side. The criminal had his right hand pressed against it, and he closed his eyes in obvious pain when he thought she was looking away. 

"Oh my god."

Red opened his eyes again, and glanced down to his right side.

"Oh that. Just another day being a criminal, nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Liz repeated incredulously. "Have you been shot?"

Red grimaced, and Liz gasped again as she moved forward and dropped to her knees by his side. Carefully lifting Red's hand away, Liz was shocked at the incredible amount of blood pooling on Red's vest. It was a miracle he was still breathing.

"What happened?"

"Dembe is currently unavailable, and I had nowhere else to go." Red began, ignoring Liz's question. "I know I'm putting you in danger by being here Lizzie, but I need your help."

Staring in his pain-filled eyes, Liz could both hear and see the criminal's sincerity. This was a man that had absolutely no one, desperately turning to the one person who might help him. Red wouldn't be near her if he could help it, something she completely understood. It seemed his mission was to keep her safe, so to turn up like this and put her once again in the immediate line of fire showed how truly desperate he was.

"Okay."

Placing Red's hand back on his wound, Liz raced back up the stairs. Reaching her bathroom, Liz tore open the medicine cabinet and grabbed what she needed. Tweezers, painkillers, cloths, needles, string, scissors. Bolting back downstairs, Liz collapsed next to Red and tossed the items to the floor alongside her.

Glancing quickly at his face, Liz quickly registered how sickly pale Red was becoming. She needed to remove the bullet quickly and stitch the wound closed before the man bleed to death. Reaching up, Liz began attempting to remove Red's jacket. After a few moments of careful manoeuvring, the jacket came off, quickly followed by the vest.

Sitting up on her knees, Liz tried to steady her hands as she began undoing the buttons of Red's shirt. Raising his eyebrow, Red whispered in a shaky voice.

"Eager to see more of me, Lizzie?"

Choosing to ignore the comment, Liz felt her resolve fade slightly. Red could barely speak, showing how weak he had become. This more than anything caused Liz to speed up her movements. 

Once all of the buttons had been undone, Liz pushed part of it aside in order to have maximum access to the wound.

Picking up the tweezers, Liz took a deep breath. Pushing Red's hand away gently, Liz was suddenly hit with the enormity of the task that she was about to undertake. She had never done anything like this before - she had never even considered it.

"Oh god."

"Steady hands, Lizzie."

Liz looked desperately up at Red, who in turn offered her a small and weak yet genuine smile.

"You can do it, Lizzie. I know you can."

Taking another deep breath, Liz tore her eyes away from Red's, and began using her tweezers to fish for the bullet imbedded in his side.

After a few moments, Liz finally found the vile piece of metal. Carefully extracting it from Red's side, Liz let out a breath she didn't even realise she had been holding.

Not wanting to run the risk of dropping it back into the wound or in Red's still flowing blood, Liz quickly placed it on one of the cloths on the floor. Placing the bloody tweezers beside the even bloodier bullet, Liz picked up another cloth and dabbed at the wound. Red hissed, and Liz quickly apologised and offered the painkillers. Red shook his head, and reached out to grasp the pillow beside him. Clutching it like a lifeline, Red nodded, signalling for Liz to continue.

After cleaning away as much of the blood as she could, Liz placed the cloth down and grasped the needle and string sitting beside her.

Now, she thought, comes the hard part.

Quickly threading the string through the needle, Liz placed her left hand next to Red's wound. Applying the slightest pressure, Liz closed the wound as much as she could. Taking a moment to steady herself, Liz slowly began the tedious and painful (for Red) task of stitching the wound closed.

After a few tense moments, Liz broke the silence, frustrated.

"Stop flinching! You're making the pain worse for yourself!"

"Stop plunging that needle into my flesh as if you were a carpenter hammering in a nail!"

The pair glared at each other, brown battling with green. However, their eyes quickly softened. They could never stay mad at each other, especially not in a situation like this. Especially not after everything that they had done for each other. Liz turned away, needle hovering slightly above Red's skin.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

Liz's eyes found Red's again. His deep green orbs were as calm as the breeze of a warm summers night. Feeling some strength slowly begin to ebb it's way back into her hands, Liz once again focused on the task at hand. 

Quickly finishing up, Liz tied the end of the string and used the scissors to cut it. Observing her work, Liz knew it wasn't the best of jobs. But it stopped the bleeding, and that was all that mattered right now. She would get Red to a hospital as soon as he was fit to move, whether he liked it or not. But for now, her work would do.

After making sure that Red wasn't going to pass out on her, Liz gathered up her things and moved to the kitchen. Dumping the tweezers and scissors into the sink, Liz placed the bullet-holding cloth down on the bench. She would have to ask Red about the best way to dispose of it in the morning. Grabbing a clean cloth from the nearest draw, Liz wet it slightly before pouring a glass of cool water for Red.

Swiftly cleaning her hands of Red's blood, Liz also cleaned the tweezers and scissors. Placing them to the side to dry, Liz then grabbed the damp cloth and glass of water.

Making her way back to his side, Liz again offered Red the painkillers. Even though it was abundantly clear that he didn't want them, Red caved under the harsh stare from Liz. Taking the pills, Red sipped at the water whilst Liz used the damp cloth to clean the drying blood on Red's side.

Once she was satisfied with the state of his skin, Liz began buttoning up Red's bloodstained shirt. In her earlier panic, she hadn't been able to appreciate Red's chest. Now, she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she caught herself staring. Red, even in his weak state, didn't miss a beat. When Liz caught his eye, he winked, setting off alarm bells in her mind. 

Rapidly moving away, Liz made her way to the cupboard where she kept extra blankets. Grabbing one, Liz carried it back to Red. Despite the criminal's protest, she managed to place it over him.

"You're staying here tonight. You're in no state to move, and I need to keep an eye on those stitches."

Begrudgingly, Red agreed. Liz supposed in normal circumstances, Red would have jumped at the chance to be near her for the night. But now, they both knew the dangers of prolonged closeness. However, since it was close to 3 am, Liz decided that she would deal with everything in the morning.

Satisfied that Red's position on the couch would not run the risk of undoing the stitches, Liz began moving towards the stairs.

"Wait."

Liz turned to see Red's eyes gazing up at her. She was shocked to see how vulnerable Red looked. Despite some colour returning to his cheeks, he was still clearly weak, sitting there wrapped in her navy blanket. 

"Yes?"

Red hesitated. Was he…nervous? A few seconds passed before Red spoke again.

"Will you stay with me?"

Liz just managed to keep her jaw from dropping. Number four on the FBI's Most Wanted list, and currently Number One on the Blacklist was asking her to stay with him for the night. 

Liz was about to refuse, when she noticed the sadness sitting deep within Red's green orbs. He was, for once, actually scared, which spooked Liz. She had never known him to be scared.

Despite her mind screaming at her to decline, Liz's body seemed to move of it's own accord. Approaching the man that had changed her life, Liz noticed the flicker of joy that ignited in Red's eyes. Lowering herself next to his uninjured side, Liz quickly arranged the blanket around the both of them. Red tried his best to help, yet in his state he wasn't able to do much.

Settling down properly, Liz found herself relaxing as her eyes drunk in the man before her. So much had changed since she had last spoken to him. The last six months of searching had almost driven her insane. More than once, Liz had managed to convince herself that she would never see the Concierge of Crime again. However, a new piece of information would arise almost immediately, almost as if the universe was begging her not to give up hope.

Regardless of what she told Cooper and the rest of the FBI, Liz didn't want to capture Red for the Bureau. She didn't care for what they wanted from him. She wanted answers, she wanted her guardian, her hope, back. Most of all, she simply desired to know that he was safe.

Now, as he sat before her, eyes half closed, Liz finally felt safe. Moving slightly closer, Liz reached out and placed her hands on his chest, above the pillow he had clutched before. Even though she knew it was stupid, Liz still needed confirmation that this was all real, that her sleep-deprived mind wasn't playing tricks on her. Liz soon felt the warmth of Red's arms around her, providing the protection that she had craved since he disappeared.

"You told me that you would be here if I needed you."

Red raised his eyebrows, curious and wanting Liz to continue. Smiling slightly, she did.

"I guess that didn't turn out how you expected."

Red chuckled softly. "Life often takes pleasure in not being what I expect. Though I am grateful."

It was Liz's turn to raise her eyebrows, this time in confusion.

"It's brought me back to you."

Liz blushed and looked down. Staring at her hands on Red's chest, Liz realised that she was grateful as well. Looking up to tell him so, Liz was amused to find Red's eyes shut, and his breathing in a contented rhythm. Following his lead, Liz closed her eyes. As she did, she knew with a definitive certainty that she was right where she belonged. That they both were where they needed to be, and that everything was, even if for a moment, right in the world. Closing her fists slightly, Liz held onto Red's shirt tightly.

She prayed that he would still be there when she awoke.

And he was.

**Author's Note:**

> THE END. Hope you liked it! I honestly don't know how I'm going to survive a month without this show, so all you other Blacklisters better get writing fast! In other news, I wish I could believe Red when he said he wasn't Liz's father, but I'm honestly not too sure. Can't let those shipper goggles blind me this time. Anyway, hope you liked this little (yeah, little, right) fic :)


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